Running for a purpose

This past week I have been lobbying to raise money for my best friend's charity while he prepares for a marathon. It is his first and I have seen the change that the training has brought in him. But this blog isnt about how much I admire him for signing up for this, but focuses on how difficult it is to convince people to donate to his cause.

The people who raise money for charity through running do it for themselves.
I wanted to run all year long. 9 months into the year, and I cant run 2 miles without feeling that my heart will explode into a gooey mass. And here are amazing individuals who juggle classes, research while training to run a 26-mile marathon. They dont need 26 miles to stay healthy, they dont need to even run to be fit and have lean muscle. All of them might as well take up belly dancing!! But they choose to put themselves through this ordeal because they want to create awareness. They want to make a slight dent in the society with their contributions. We have been privileged to get our schooling from the top schools in our cities, but there are many who cant attend ANY school.

I dont believe that people can't spare $10 for his charity.
Did I mention that the ones who dint spare a penny are his classmates and friends. When I got frustrated and complained about it to my friend, he used the word 'intent'. It calmed me then but I couldn't help thinking how people work. Somehow money is more important than everything else while we continue to eloquently explain how 'money can't buy you happiness'. The reality is in this case, the money you donate will help children in India through school. These are students who cant finish school due to financial constraints, let alone take a loan of 20 lakhs to slog through grad school to eventually earn 70-100k per year. Remember this when you return to India as an NRI in 10 yrs, you cant complain about the 'uneducated masses ' because you hesitated to help!

If time is money, cant find you something deep down in your heart to contribute a few small change for their time?
PS: You get tax exemption so technically this is a SALE!